So Extraordinary, It's Boderline Crazy
by TaintedMoonlight
Summary: Temari KNOWS she doesn't blush. Temari KNOWS she isn't a pathetic lovesick floozy. Or at least, that's what she had thought. Because now Temari is beginning to feel like she KNOWS...absolutely nothing. She might even resort to asking her brothers..
1. Why Him?

**_So Extraordinary, It's Borderline Crazy_**

**Ch.1** _Why Him?_

* * *

Temari had never considered herself a normal girl. Sure, she had _normal_ tendencies, but she wasn't one of those pathetic, tittering females who fell 'in love' and lost focus of everything. She'd always been sure she would never become the girl who would fall for some shinobi and think about him on days that would be better spent training.

After all, men were men; there were more than enough of the useless species, why should any of them occupy her mind at all? They were nothing special.

But there she was sitting on a sand hill her eyes drawn up to the empty sky thinking of some stupid boy.

Because he _was_ a boy. For goodness' sake, she was thinking of a boy three years younger than her and not only that, he was the laziest, most irritating ninja she'd ever had the misfortune to meet. He definitely wasn't worth her time. He was pathetic. He was useless.

Which was why she was _so_ irritated that she could not stop thinking about him.

Nara Shikamaru.

What kind of a name was that anyway? Shikamaru. _Shika_maru. She frowned, okay, so it was a perfectly acceptable name. There was nothing wrong with it, but there was nothing extraordinary about it either. Temari tended to like extraordinary. Normalcy was so…cliché and he seemed to only want normalcy.

She growled again.

A soft whisper of a cloud drifted lazily across the sky. Although it could hardly be called a sky. A sky with only one cloud (if it could even be called a cloud) shouldn't be called a sky.

She resisted the urge to sigh. The sky was always so _boring_ in Suna. If she could fix the sky then it wouldn't bother her, but no amount of yelling or threats would mold the sky. Stupid stubborn sky.

Temari longed to be back in Konoha.

The sky was nicer there.

_He_ was there.

She growled again.

What _was_ it? Why did that insufferable baka interrupt her every thought? Why was she thinking about him when she could be training?

He wasn't even remotely interesting.

Temari ran down his attributes in her mind.

He had slanted eyes. They looked nice, but that was it – just nice. They weren't…alluring.

He sported a spiky ponytail... It looked odd, she liked it, but at times she wanted to snap the rubber band holding up his hair to see what Shikamaru's hair looked like tumbling down over his shoulders. Although she suspected the image wouldn't make her heart thump loudly or chills run down her spine. In fact, she imagined it would just make her smile.

He always donned that lazy – _everything_. Lazy posture, lazy smile, lazy scowl, lazy mannerisms, lazy attitude. _That_ was annoying. It was worse than annoying; it made her want to strangle him.

He wasn't stupid obviously. They called him a genius and with good reason; he was a great tactician. Frankly, it was the reason she respected him; but that wasn't enough to make her swoon.

What the hell was it?!

She growled again. This was getting to her. She could only take so much uncertainty. Her nails dug into the warm sand beneath her.

"Oi, Temari."

Temari looked over her shoulder.

_Lovely_, it was the object of her irritation. She stood up and turned around to face him. "What are you doing here?"

He smirked, "How polite of you."

"I'm not a polite person, Shikamaru."

He was slouched slightly and his hands were shoved comfortably in his pockets. He looked as bored as he always did.

Temari suppressed another growl of irritation_. Why him?_ She asked herself for the millionth time.

"I know. You don't enjoy being polite too often." He paused. "You're in a bad mood aren't you?"

Temari just glared at him. He clearly wasn't interesting. Not even the slightest bit. Hell, he was annoying. "What are you doing in Suna?" She asked again.

He shrugged. "Political chats. I'm just here to oversee the whole process. It's—"

"Troublesome." Temari finished for him. "Everything is so damn troublesome for you."

He frowned, "Are you—"

"I'm fine." Temari said firmly.

"You just seem more hostile than usual."

"Hmph! What would you know?" She turned her head up to watch the sky. "You don't know me." Temari dropped her gaze back down to him to see his reaction.

"…" He looked up at the sky lazily.

Temari wondered if her response had been too cold, too curt, too rude. What if he stopped talking to her? Despite how annoyed she was at him, she enjoyed their conversations; he was one of the few she actually _talked_ to. Temari had never been a great conversationalist. She had two social modes: the one reserved for political situations and her regular persona, which tended to turn people off and push them away with her bluntness.

"Your sky is boring." He said simply.

"It's not _my_ sky. It's just…sky." She said with slight relief. She hadn't fazed him; she hadn't pissed him off.

Her mind drifted back to her previous thoughts.

What _was_ it? It had to be something. She felt the lure, the slight thump, thump of her heart, but couldn't place where it was coming from. "But I suppose you could call it boring." She continued, "You can hardly ever see clouds from here."

His eyes dropped back down to her, clearly bored with the sky. "What were you doing before I showed up? Obviously not looking at the sky. It's dull."

"Thinking…about a problem." She doubted he was really interested. He didn't sound it. His apathy was getting to her.

"D'you figure it out?"

"No…" Temari paused, something becoming very clear in her mind. "Say something." She ordered.

Shikamaru raised an eyebrow. "_What_?"

Temari felt a slight blush creep along her cheek. "Dammit." It was his voice that did it. His stupid _voice_.

"Temari…are you _blushing_?"

"No!" She tried desperately to calm herself down. Him saying her name had enflamed the slight pink into a furious red. "Baka, stop saying stupid things."

He raised an eyebrow but didn't speak.

Thankfully.

_His voice_ dammit. He had a really _hot_ voice. She felt her stomach squirm pleasantly.

"Tem—"

She held up her hand authoritatively, "Don't speak."

He sighed.

_Oh, that's a great plan_, Temari, Good Temari whined inside her head. _Whenever he's in your presence tell him not to speak. That'll work __**great**_ She had a strong feeling that if Bad Temari was awake she would agree with Good Temari. "Don't you have somewhere to be?" She asked, thoroughly annoyed. She had blushed dammit! Sabakuno Temari did _not_ blush. Especially over Nara Shikamaru. She was clearly losing it. Maybe if he left, her head would regain its sanity. She hoped so; she was very much attached to her sanity.

"Am I allowed to speak now?"

He didn't sound angry. Or irked even. In fact, he just sounded bored.

BORED.

"Why are you like that?!" She asked, steadily growing more irate. "You are exhausting to be around with your stupid bored attitude!"

"Are you trying to tell me to be someone else? I'd figure you of all people would be the last to say that."

"Cheh. You know I don't mean that. I just – I'm…"

"Pissed off? Irritated? Needing to attack something?" He supplied teasingly.

Temari smiled, "Are you offering yourself?"

"As if." He smiled a small smile. "Since a man can't hit a woman you'd kill me with your fan. I'd just have to stand here and take it."

She chuckled despite herself. Looking up at him she smirked, "You and your stupid man and woman crap. You couldn't beat me even if you tried."

"You and your cocky attitude, Temari."

"Do you want to try to prove me wrong, Nara?" She goaded him, a grin on her face.

"Too troublesome."

"'Too troublesome.'" She mimicked. "I think that's just your excuse when you know you can't win."

He leaned forward a cocky smile on his lips. "I'm not the one obsessed with winning."

She grinned, "No, you much rather enjoy giving up."

"Troublesome woman."

"Crybaby."

"Are you still on that?"

"And I will be until I die."

"Won't be too long then, someone's bound to kill you someday soon with that mouth of yours."

She laughed. "Oh, please. You are _so_ lame, Shikamaru."

He chuckled. "Meh."

"_Aww_...Too lazy to respond?" She teased.

"TEMARI!" The blonde woman sighed as she heard someone call her. Kankuro was jogging up to them.

"What is it, Kankuro?"

"The council wants to see you."

"Am I—"

"No. No, missions. Some political baloney. They declare you're the only one who can clear it up and talk sense into Gaara."

She sighed. "What's Gaara trying to do?"

"I didn't ask."

Another sigh. "I'll head over then. I hate this political bullcrap." She looked at Shikamaru. "When will you be leaving?"

"In two days."

"I'll see you tomorrow then. These kinds of things usually take awhile. Gaara's incomparably stubborn."

He glanced at the sky, "All right then, I'll see you tomorrow, Temari."

A heavy blush spread across her cheeks.

Damn, damn, damn. She was not the kind of girl who blushed dammit! Ever. EVER. And now she'd blushed twice! Why did he have to say her name? It sounded so hot coming from his lips.

Kankuro's eyebrows drew together. "Why the hell are you blushing, Tem?"

Temari wanted to grimace. Kankuro would be bothering her about blushing for the rest of her damned life; as if she didn't have enough issues to deal with on her own. Stupid males. "I'm going to go now." She said ignoring the puppeteer's question and heading off.

A crush and her brother pestering her on said crush.

_Great_, now she had _normal_ girl problems.

Although she sincerely doubted normal girls were attracted to a guy's _voice_.


	2. Explain it to Me

**_So Extraordinary, It's Borderline Crazy_**

**Ch.2**_ Explain it to Me_

* * *

Temari pushed the door open with her foot and shifted the grocery bags in her hands so they wouldn't fall. "I'm just saying, Gaara. Even _you_ have to admit your suggestion was unreasonable." 

Gaara trailed in after her, holding only one small bag. "Of _course_ it was unreasonable. I intended for my suggestion to be unreasonable." Temari walked over to the kitchen counter and placed the bags on top of it; she then proceeded to remove her fan and leaned it against the wall by the kitchen table. Gaara dropped his bag alongside the ones Temari had deposited, a scowl evident on his face. "They were _annoying_ me, Temari." The red-head then proceeded to dump all of the contents out of the grocery bags as he searched for something in earnest. With extreme curtness and efficiency Temari put away the items he pushed aside. "I just wanted them to shut up." He whined.

She sighed in irritation. "Well it clearly didn't work."

"Yes it did." He countered. "They shut up for a whole hour until you showed up. Then they happened to decide it was safe to talk again."

"But you just made the meeting last even longer."

"Aha!" Gaara happily held out a chocolate cake. He took it over to the kitchen table with a look of pure rapture on his face. He then started pulling out three plates from the cupboard. "Oh, well. It all worked out for the best."

Temari eyed him speculatively.

"What?" He asked innocently. The red-head placed the white porcelain plates on the table along with some forks. "I got chocolate cake. See? _Best_."

Temari rolled her eyes. "It's _cake_, Gaara. Nothing special."

"_Chocolate_ cake. Don't forget chocolate. It's the most important part." Gaara handed her the knife. "Cake, please."

Temari rolled her eyes once more, but couldn't suppress the small smile. She took the knife from her brother's hand and cut out three equal-sized pieces, leaving half of the cake still intact. Neither boy was 'allowed' to cut any cake or pie, because apparently they both cheated and made their own slice bigger. So the two boys had ruled that Temari would always cut cake and pies. Which was funny and stupid as far as Temari could see, because when she was on a mission, the two boys would wait for her to return just so she could cut the desert for them. It didn't matter for how long she'd be gone, they would wait. "Kankuro!" Temari called, "Cake!"

The puppeteer was in the kitchen faster than you could say 'chocolate'. "Oh, good, chocolate. Guess this means Gaara picked."

Whenever Gaara went grocery shopping with either sibling, fifty percent of the items purchased ended up being chocolate flavored. He'd buy chocolate chip cookies, chocolate chunk ice-cream, chocolate syrup, chocolate milk, chocolate _everything_. He'd even once found chocolate-covered trout. They never bought _that_ item again. Temari refused to let Gaara go shopping alone for fear of exactly what he would bring home.

The three siblings sat down at the table and began eating.

"We should've eaten real food first." Temari muttered in afterthought.

"Real food sucks." Gaara stated happily. "Chocolate's all anyone needs to live on."

Temari snickered. "It's a good thing you don't live alone. You'd never eat right if you did."

"By the way, Tem," Kankuro said slowly as he licked chocolate frosting off his fork, "why do you have a crush on that nin?"

Temari paused, fork midway to her mouth, "What – What are you talking about?"

"You know what I'm talking about." He responded cryptically.

"No, I don't." Temari protested stubbornly.

Gaara put his fork down and examined his sister. After a moment's worth of inspection, he spoke, "Liar. _I_ don't know what he's talking about, but you obviously do." He looked at Kankuro. "Who does she have a crush on?"

"No one!" Temari exclaimed.

"Nara Shikamaru." Kankuro clarified.

"I do _not_!" She countered childishly.

"Yes, you _do_!"

"Shikamaru," Gaara said slowly, "is the shadow-nin from Konoha, right? … With the funny ponytail?"

"Yes," said Temari, "that's him."

"Oh, _come on_, Temari!" Kankuro whined. "I just want to clarify _why_ you like him. He's not your type. He's nothing like the guys you've dated in the past."

Gaara looked confused, "GUY_S_? You've dated more than one person in the past?"

Both Kankuro and Temari ignored Gaara.

"And exactly what kind of guy _is_ my type, Kankuro?" Temari asked vilely.

"You know," Kankuro said airily, "ambitious, _motivated_," he gave her a pointed look, "strong pretty-boys."

Temari choked on her cake. "_Pretty-boys_?"

"Yup."

Temari picked up her fan, which had been next to her, and smacked him. "_No one_ I've dated previously has been a pretty-boy."

Gaara picked up his fork and resumed eating. "The only one I'm aware of was a 'pretty-boy'."

"Hey, wait!" Kankuro exclaimed suddenly. "Why are you so un-angry and complacent, Gaara?! Aren't you going to kill Shikamaru, or at scare him _a little_?!"

"What?" Temari asked befuddled. "Why would—"

"He did that to your last date!"

Gaara chewed happily on his cake. "There's no reason why I should go scare him." He explained. "For one, Temari insists she doesn't like him, even though I think it's pretty obvious she does. Two, there's no proof that he reciprocates her feelings; and three, even if he did, I don't mind, because I like him for her."

There was a shocked silence among the siblings.

Kankuro spoke first. "How can you _possibly_ say that?! She's _way_ better than he could ever even _dream_ of being! What is _wrong_ with you?!"

Temari swallowed the last bit of her cake and mulled over Kankuro's words. The question he had asked was actually pretty legitimate. Why _did_ she like him? The only reason she could think of for liking him was that his voice was so hot it made her blush and tremble a bit.

"Of course she's better than him." Gaara stated simply. "She'll be better than him for her whole life, for all his life, but that's no reason to dislike him." Gaara chewed the last piece of cake he had.

"Of course it is!" Kankuro countered. "And what possible reason is there _to like him_?"

Gaara picked up the three empty plates and forks from the table and moved over to the sink, depositing them in there gingerly. "He makes Temari laugh."

"That…" Kankuro trailed off and thought about the statement.

So did Temari.

"She doesn't laugh often." Gaara continued as he turned on the faucet. "Not for real. He makes her laugh, genuinely."

That was in fact a very valid point. One that Temari hadn't really noticed before. She did tend to laugh more often when she talked to him. It wasn't like she forced herself, he just made her laugh. He was pleasant company.

Gaara began washing the dishes carefully. It would unnerve most people to see Gaara doing anything even remotely domestic, but the siblings were used to it. Ever since Gaara'd decided to turn his life around he took up washing the dishes to ease Temari's workload. Because Temari was as good as their mother. She did all the cooking and cleaning for them. Except for the dishes. Now Gaara did those.

"Do you want another reason?" Gaara asked softly.

"Yes." Kankuro grunted. "That last one was…not a good enough reason."

"He calms her down."

Temari straightened, "What is _that_ supposed to mean?"

"It means," Gaara stated, "that one minute you're angry and the next you're not."

Kankuro opened his mouth to retort then closed it abruptly. "Dammit." He muttered. "But he _still_ should not go near Temari!"

Temari blinked thinking back to earlier today, she'd been irritated and 'hostile' and Shikamaru had single-handedly turned her into a smiling playful person almost immediately. This was irritating. How did Gaara come up with reasons when she could not? Temari picked up the leftover cake and placed it inside the fridge for later. She gritted her teeth, "I'm going upstairs."

"Okay" said Gaara.

Temari headed upstairs thinking bitterly upon the subject.

"Temari, wait!" Kankuro called.

She growled. "What?!"

"Yeesh." Kankuro muttered, "You're pissed off."

"You want me to get Shikamaru?" Gaara asked sweetly, a tone of humor in his voice.

"Shut up, Gaara." Temari grumbled and continued up to her room.

"Come on, Temari! I just want to know _why_!"

Temari walked into her room and was about to close the door when she thought better of it. She looked at Kankuro and sighed, "His voice, okay?" Temari then closed the door.

"_His voice_?!" She could hear Kankuro exclaim. "What the hell kind of an answer is that?!"

**

* * *

A/N:** I love family moments. :) 


	3. Reasons Why

**_So Extraordinary, It's Borderline Crazy_**

**Ch.3: **Reasons Why

* * *

It was three in the morning and Temari hadn't slept at all. She'd lain on her bed staring up at the roof thinking about…well, him.

And that was making her want to tear her hair out in frustration.

Why did she have to have insomnia over him?

She rolled around a few more times, and then groaned.

Why did she like _him_?

She had three reasons so far, two of which were supplied by Gaara; but it _still_ didn't seem enough for her.

There _had_ to be something insanely extraordinary and enticing for her to turn into one of _those_ girls.

She stood up and kicked her bed angrily. "Stupid bed." She muttered. Temari's hair was sticky and matted, pressing against her pale skin; she only wore a thin purple camisole that reached up to her hips and pink cotton underwear. Suna was unbearably hot on summer nights; it was impossible to sleep in anything else. And regardless of what she did and didn't wear she still woke up sweaty, hot, and with her hair sticking to her flushed face. She pushed her hair out of her face irritably and paced about the room.

It was the heat she told herself. The heat was making her delusional and crazy and obsessed with him.

It was just the heat, she reasoned.

But…

Even if it _was_ just the heat, why did the heat have to choose him of all people?

She could come up with reasons for just about everyone else she could think of; hell, she could probably even explain it if it were Naruto, but _Shikamaru_?

He was so…everything she wasn't!

Temari pulled at her hair and growled. She needed answers. Temari had a logical mind, a tactical mind; she _needed_ a reason for everything.

She always had to have a reason. Even for the stupidest things.

When Gaara took up washing the dishes she had to know why. She couldn't just be content with the fact that one day Gaara just up and started washing the dishes without a word. Gaara hadn't explained and Temari craved an explanation. She couldn't just be happy that he was helping around the house or happy that he was becoming a better person. She wanted to know _why_ he was helping. So she asked him when her curiosity grew too deep. "Gaara," she had asked timidly, drumming her fingers anxiously against the counter, "why…Why are you…Why do you wash the dishes?"

He had looked at her then with complete uncertainty, confusion, and maybe a twinge of fear. "Do you not want me to do so, Temari?"

"N-No, Gaara, that's not it. I just…I want to know _why_."

"…You're always…busy and…stressed. You do…shinobi things, and things with the council…and-and damage control…You fix things I…and Kankuro mess up…And you clean everything…and cook…I wanted to help you…" He looked at her child-like and innocent. "Did I do bad?"

Temari had smiled. "No, Gaara. You did good. Thank you." She had kissed him on the cheek tenderly. "I love you, little bother."

Gaara'd just eyed her curiously with an expression of happiness.

The fact was Temari had grown up needing reasons, needing explanations, when the reason wasn't obvious she analyzed it, questioned it, and contemplated the problem. She always found her answer and right now she _needed_ one desperately.

Unfortunately she was clearly unable to come with a good one on her own. The only person she could think of that could help her was…Gaara.

He _had_ given her two good reasons already and Gaara tended to notice things most people didn't.

Temari tied up her hair into its traditional hairdo and thought about whether or not she should go wake Gaara up and ask him.

It really seemed an unfair thing to do, especially since Gaara was barely getting used the whole sleeping concept. Ever since the Shukaku no longer inhabited his body, he'd had difficulties wrapping his mind around the mere idea of sleeping. Sleeping had been a hard enough thing for Gaara to even understand, let alone do.

Temari walked out of her room and towards Gaara's, reasoning she just wanted to see if he was awake.

Some nights Gaara just sat on his new bed and claimed he couldn't sleep the next morning. Some nights Temari sang to him until he did fall asleep. Some nights Kankuro put on a little puppet play so he could sleep. Some nights the little baka pretended to be asleep and later would go up onto the roof and watch the stars. And then there were the nights that he actually slept quite well.

Bad Temari hoped he was having a sleepless night. Good Temari was being held captive by Bad Temari.

She pushed open his door a little louder than necessary. "Gaara?" She whispered, just a tad too loudly. Nobody answered. She looked around the room.

The cream-colored sheets of his bed were rumpled but obviously no one had tried to sleep in them. Everything else in the room was neat and perfectly untouched; and Gaara was most definitely not present in the room.

Temari closed his bedroom door and headed downstairs deciding going up to the roof in her underwear wasn't worth it. She could always ask Gaara in the morning. Temari could, of course, put on shorts or a skirt but it was too hot to do anything of the kind. Instead she figured a nice big slice of cake would make her feel better, even though her brothers would want to kill her for sneaking downstairs to eat 'their' cake. Deserts were a touchy subject in their household. It was 'share or we'll kill you'; regular food on the other hand apparently held no value.

As she entered the kitchen she saw Gaara sitting comfortably on the kitchen counter, the entire leftover cake in his lap, happily shoveling it in his mouth. "Memmari." He mumbled through a mouthful of cake.

Temari smiled. "Gaara."

The red-head swallowed, "What are you doing awake?"

Temari pulled herself up to the counter and sat down next to him. "You know, it surprises me how childish you look when you eat something chocolatey." She snatched the fork from his hand and took a piece of the cake. "And what are _you_ doing awake, little brother?"

He snatched the fork back and took up some more cake. "Chocolate cake was calling me. It wanted me to eat it. You can't ignore the pleas of chocolate cake, Temari. It's dangerous to do such a thing." Temari smiled. "And you still have told me why your awake, Temari. You're always out like a light after midnight."

She sighed. "I was…being troubled by my thoughts."

Gaara chewed slowly. "Want to share them?"

She closed her eyes and leaned back. "Actually, yes. See, Bad Temari walked out of her room to wake you up so she could talk to you and when you weren't there, Bad Temari figured a good punishment for you was to eat the rest of the cake."

"And Good Temari?"

"She's blindfolded and her mouth is gagged. She's currently being tortured by Bad Temari."

"Ah." Gaara took another bite of cake. "So?"

Temari frowned. "So?" She asked in confusion.

"What are the troubling thoughts?"

"Oh." Temari drummed her fingers on the spare bit of counter. "Uh…See…"

"You're nervous, Temari." Gaara mumbled through a mouthful of cake. "It's annoying. Just say it."

Temari sighed, "Okay, see…I…Kankuro's right… I _do_ have a crush on Sh-Shikamaru." He eyes focused on the wall, avoiding Gaara's gaze entirely. "I just…I can't… I don't know _why_. Not really. I can't find a good enough _reason_. I blushed dammit! He made me _blush_. I don't blush, Gaara! I'm not…_that_ girl. The one who blushes and-and can't sleep and thinks about some guy constantly, but-but that's what I'm doing, dammit! And I don't know _why_." Temari finished quietly. "I can't think of a good enough reason that would explain why I've-I've turned into that kind of person…"

Gaara got off the counter and dumped the empty container in the trash. "_Why_? That's what's bothering you?" He looked at her curiously, "You really don't know why?"

Temari glared at her youngest brother. "If I knew why, would I be talking to you about it?" She snapped irritably.

Kankuro probably would've retorted back with some snarky comment which would set her off into a yelling rampage leading to half an hour of pointless arguing before actual heartfelt talking, but Gaara ignored her irritable comments; most likely because he knew it would piss her off no matter what he said to that, and Gaara wasn't much into the pointless yelling concept. He liked curtness and efficiency. "You are either stupid…or you don't really have an interest in discovering why."

"What the _hell_ does that mean, Gaara?" She accused bitterly.

"You're afraid." Gaara said simply, looking at her carefully.

"I am _not_—" Temari snarled.

"You are. Now, shut up." Temari gritted her teeth as Gaara pulled himself back up to the counter. "He knows what he wants. What he wants may be simple and ordinary, but he knows what he wants." Gaara paused, "I don't know why, but that's important to you. You hate when people don't know."

"That's not—"

"No matter how rude or violent you get, he puts up with it, amiably too. For all his complaints about you being troublesome he doesn't…really mind."

Temari clucked her tongue and looked to the side, unable to respond. If she _did_ bother him as much as he complained, he wouldn't bother talking to her, right? And it's not like _she_ always sought him out, although that was most always the case, _he_ sometimes looked for her. He did come find her today…

"He doesn't care what people think and believes others shouldn't care either. Like you. He doesn't care what people will say about him just as you don't either."

"But he's so dammed lazy!" Temari complained. "How can I possibly like someone as lazy as him? He has _no_ motivation."

"I don't think that's true." Gaara replied monotonously. "I think he's pretty motivated when it comes to getting what he wants. It's just that what he wants doesn't require as much force as what others want."

Temari growled. She slipped off the counter and paced about the small kitchen. "Gaara…." She sighed. "Look, those are nice reasons but… they don't – they aren't… They're not good enough. It doesn't explain anything!"

"Of course they didn't explain it. You haven't heard _the reason_ yet."

Temari blinked. "And what would 'the reason' be?"

"Simple. He doesn't see a violent, crazy, fan-wielding kunoichi. He doesn't see the former Kazekage's daughter. He doesn't see the current Kazekage's sister. He doesn't see Suna's polite princess. He doesn't see a powerful ally. He doesn't see a dangerous enemy." Gaara slid off the counter and pressed a finger lightly to Temari's forehead. "He just sees you."

Temari looked nervously at the floor as the words sunk in.

"He doesn't see your ties or your facades or anything else. He sees Temari. With flaws and all, and likes you anyway. _That's_ the reason."

Temari's mouth dropped open. "I…"

"No guy's ever bothered to see you for who you really are. That's why when you see him you feel happier, because around him there's no pretending. You can be yourself. That why you can only think of him. That's why you blush. That's why you've become one of _those_ girls. That's why you're afraid. Because he _sees_ you, Temari. And that is the most terrifying thing you've ever had to deal with. That's _the_ reason."

Temari just stared at him in shock. There passed a long stretch of silence in which the two siblings just looked at each other.

'_He just sees you_.' She thought about the way he acted with her. How he just briefly glanced at her then watched the sky as if nothing were more interesting. How she could see him glance at her and eye her with careful scrutiny when she wasn't acting normal. How he would shove his hands in his pockets when he was comfortable. She thought about the way he _looked_ at her when he wasn't really saying anything and neither was she. How his eyes didn't really seem to be picking her apart or watching for some sign that she was about to turn violent on him. How he just _looked_ at her. Just her. She thought about the way he talked to her. How he smiled when he teased her and she teased him. How he was never offended no matter how badly she insulted him when she was in 'her moods'. How he always stayed with her, talked to her, and didn't let her leave until she was no longer angry.

'_He sees Temari. With flaws and all, and likes you anyway._'

Who he saw, who he worked to see was the person no one but her brothers had ever cared to see.

And that person he saw didn't scare him. He _saw_ her.

She sighed. "…That was…Thanks…"

"It helped?"

"Very much."

"…"

"Gaara," Temari said softly, "You should go to sleep."

He blinked. "Do I have to?"

"I'd like it if you did. You haven't slept for three days."

He stared blankly at her. "…Okay." The boy then headed up to his room. It still surprised her how child-like Gaara could be. "Do you want me to sing you a song?"

"No… I can handle falling asleep on my own today." He said quietly, "Not that I like it, though…Besides, you need to sleep too…sister."

Temari smiled. He very rarely called her sister. "Goodnight, little brother."

The blonde dragged herself up the stairs and into her room. She _did_ need sleep. And now that she had a reason (plenty of them) it shouldn't be too hard to succumb to that particular pleasure.

**

* * *

A/N: **Tell me what you think. 

Although I wont be able to read these reviews for 4 _whole_ days. My parents are forcing me to go to Oklahoma to visit my aunt. I _really_ don't want to go. Ah, well…


	4. Visitors at the Door

**So Extraordinary, It's Borderline Crazy**

**Ch.4:** _Visitors at the Door_

* * *

Temari awoke to the sound of Kankuro yelling. The sound of an argument beginning was the sweet-sounding alarm of the Sabakuno household. (Or in the case of the one being yelled at, the screeching _annoying_ alarm of the Sabakuno household)

"DAMMIT, GAARA!!" She could hear him yell very clearly.

Temari slid off her bed comfortably and began fixing the blankets and sheets, still listening to the argument taking place downstairs, from the sound of it, in the kitchen.

"WHERE THE HELL IS THE CAKE?!"

She could almost see Gaara displaying his vacant, 'I'm-so-innocent' gaze. "What are you talking about?"

Temari smiled and arranged the pillows on her bed as Kankuro's voice belted out once more.

"DON'T YOU PLAY INNOCENT, YOU BRAT! WHERE'S THE CAKE!"

"Why accuse me?" He asked innocently.

"You're the chocolate addict!!"

Temari started rummaging through her clothes looking for her 'special' purple skirt.

"Okay," Gaara said slowly. "I'll be honest. Temari ate it."

Temari slammed her drawers shut and scrambled downstairs.

"_What_?" The puppeteer asked astounded.

"I saw her." Gaara said matter-of-factly.

"You _little_ sneak!" Temari yelled as she entered the kitchen.

"_You_ ate the cake, Temari?" He asked. "Dammit, Temari! I _wanted_ cake!"

"Gaara ate it too!" The blonde protested. "In fact, _I_ caught _him_ in the act. I joined afterwards."

"So BOTH you cheats ate my cake!?"

"It was _my_ cake." said Gaara stubbornly. "I just _let_ you and Temari have some."

Kankuro growled. "That's not—" He stopped abruptly as he noticed Temari's attire for the first time. Temari stood in front of the two younger brothers wearing her pajamas: a thin purple tank top and cotton pink underwear. "Where the hell are you clothes, Temari?"

She looked down at herself. "These are clothes."

"That's underwear."

She sighed irritably. "I can't find my purple skirt, okay?"

"You have a lot of skirts. Put on one of those."

"I want _that_ skirt." She complained.

His eyes creased in confusion and irritation. "Why does it matter?"

"Because," Gaara muttered as he examined the contents of the freezer, "Temari wants to impress a boy."

"No, I don't." Temari replied a bit too quickly.

"YOU WANT TO WHAT?" Kankuro exclaimed hysterically. "WHAT BOY!? _Don't_ tell me it's Nara!"

"Temari," Gaara asked, his red head deep inside the freezer, "Where's the ice cream?"

"Why should I tell you?" Temari snapped. "You keep saying things that get Kankuro yelling at me."

"They were all true." The red-head muttered under his breath. "And you should tell me where the ice cream is because I'm your little brother and you love me…._Oh_! And I'm the Kazekage. You can't deny the Kazekage his chocolatey ice cream."

"Just watch me." She told him.

Kankuro was seething. "DAMMIT, TEMARI! WHAT BOY?!"

"I'm ignoring you." She said calmly. "_Both_ of you."

"DAMMIT, TEMARI!" Kankuro continued to exalt.

"Ay, shut up, Kankuro." Gaara muttered, still pushing around the contents in the freezer. "Temari's a big girl. She can take care of herself."

"No, she can't!" Kankuro said quickly. "You said it yourself. She's a _girl_. Girls don't know how to take care of themselves. They're all batty and to make matters worse she's _blonde_! Blondes are the worst! They know _nothing_ about taking care of themselves."

Even amidst the prattling and yelling, the three siblings could clearly hear someone knocking on the door. Temari was back up in her room searching haphazardly for her skirt when the knock sounded. "ANSWER the door, Kankuro!" She called.

Kankuro scowled. The puppeteer grumpily crossed the house into the hallway and opened the door to find Nara Shikamaru standing before him. He slammed the door closed immediately.

The red-head appeared behind the puppeteer, a pint of ice cream in his hands. Gaara licked ice cream from a metal spoon. "Temari's gonna kill you."

"She won't know." Kankuro said venomously, almost threateningly to his younger brother. His tone got lighter as his eyes focused on the pint of ice-cream. "Where'd you find the ice-cream?"

"Under the frozen peas." Gaara scooped another spoonful of chocolate ripple ice-cream in his mouth. "And Temari'll know. She's crazy like that. She knows _everything_. She's like those creepy mothers people talk about, that have eyes in the back of their head."

Kankuro sighed. "They don't _literally_ mean eyes in the back of their head, Gaara."

"Then why would they say that unless it were true?"

"It's just a saying."

"How else would sayings come about unless SOMEONE somewhere had seen it first hand."

Despite the fact that Kankuro was POSTIVE no mother on earth had ever had eyes in the back of their heads, he had to admit the red-head made some good points. That is why the puppeteer didn't like explaining things to his younger brother. _He_ ended up getting confused.

Temari skipped down the stairs. "Kankuro why'd you slam the door on someone?"

"It was a salesman." The puppeteer said quickly.

She frowned. "…Still rude. Open the door and apologize."

Kankuro bubbled in frustration as he noticed Temari's attire had yet to change. He was brought the image of the shadow-nin seeing _his_ sister in her underwear. "Ch-You-the-it's-_Dammit_! Put on clothes!!"

"I'm looking for my skirt!"

"Well _look_ for it! Don't come downstairs in your underwear! What if the person at the door saw you?!"

"First of all, Kankuro, I'm in the living room, the person at the door wouldn't be able to _see_ me from the door unless you allowed said person inside the house, and we never get unannounced visitors so that's not a problem. Second, even _if_ they did, who cares? They're only salespeople. Third, I _need_ to come downstairs; I'm checking the laundry room." The blond girl walked off into another room. "Apologize to the person, brother!"

Gaara swallowed his ice-cream happily. "Told you."

"Shut up." Kankuro muttered. "But…" An evil smile worked its way across his face. "I should clarify things to Nara…" The puppeteer smirked cruelly and opened the door again, revealing a confused Shikamaru.

Gaara situated himself comfortably, so he could watch the exchange at the door. He had a feeling it would be interesting.

"Nara." Kankuro said dangerously."

"Uh…Is Tema—"

"NO." He glared at the shadow-nin. "Let me make this clear: stay away from Temari. _Far_ away. I don't like you. Come near Temari and Karasu will kill you. Very painfully." Shikamaru looked about nervously. Kankuro slammed the door. Gaara grinned.

"What?!" Kankuro said indignantly.

Gaara examined the pint of ice-cream. "It was funny…And…" He turned the carton upside down. "I've no more ice-cream."

"Don't touch the door, boy." Kankuro ordered. The puppeteer walked back into the kitchen.

Gaara dumped the empty carton of ice-cream into the trash-can by the door. "Since when do I listen to you?" He mumbled. "Especially when you're being irrational." Gaara opened the door. "'Lo, Shikamaru."

"Hi…Gaara…" He sighed. "Are you going to threaten to kill me too?"

"Nah. No killing threats for me. I rather enjoy being alive. Temari will kill me if threaten you. She's very violent, you know?" He paused. "Are you coming in?"

Shikamaru looked shocked. "You're _letting_ me?"

He shrugged. "I like you, so…yeah, why not?" Gaara opened the door farther.

xXxXx

Temari was growing frustrated. Her skirt was not in her room, not in the laundry, not in the bathroom. Where the _hell_ was her skirt? It's not like it could grow legs and walk off! She _loved_ that skirt. It made her look _hot_, sexy, fucking irresistible, dammit! Deciding she was gonna go ahead and listen to the funny feeling in her heart was of no use if she wasn't looking her absolute _best_. She didn't really have a hard time attracting guys, but Shikamaru was a whole different species. He was _lazy_, indifferent, and almost impossible to shock. She was afraid anything short of extraordinary wouldn't work with him, so she _needed_ that damn skirt. That skirt made guys' jaws drop and hands shake. It made guys stutter and say stupid things. It made them blithering morons. Surely it had to have _some_ effect on Shikamaru! Temari stormed into the living room angrily. "Dammit! Have either of you two idiots seen my skirt? Kankuro, I swear, if you—"

"Temari." Gaara interrupted, an amused smile on his lips. "Visitor."

"Visi—?" Temari's eyes widened. Shikamaru was staring at her with his mouth agape.

"T-Temari…" His eyes dropped to her waist then back up to her face immediately, a soft blush on his cheeks. "Umm…"

Temari blushed furiously. "I-_Dammit_!" She squeaked and ran up the stairs. "I'm going to KILL you, Gaara!" Temari yelled from upstairs, the embarrassment growing.

Shikamaru saw her in her _underwear_. Her stupid _pink_ underwear. And her hair had been a mess, an absolute mess! At least she'd had the sense to pull it up into her four ponytails but she hadn't done them very well. She was still blushing like crazy, her face the color of ripe tomato. Oh, this _had_ to be the most embarrassing thing ever.

…But on the other hand, she _had_ had some effect on Shikamaru.

A HUGE effect.

The boy had _blushed_.


	5. Initiating Action

**_So Extraordinary, It's Borderline Crazy_**

**Ch.5:** _Initiating Action_

* * *

Kankuro was standing in front of Shikamaru, Karasu and Kuroari at both sides of the puppeteer; the older boy stood still calmly glaring at the apathetic shadow-nin. Occasionally one of Kankuro's fingers moved slightly and one of the puppet's limbs would travel in the shadow-nin's direction, but before any part of the puppet, either puppet, could touch Shikamaru, a protective sand bubble pushed the puppet limbs back.

Gaara was lying down on the floor in-between Shikamaru and Kankuro, his eyes closed. The Kazekage sighed. "Kankuro, you're pissing me off. _Stop_ trying to hurt the man. He hasn't _done_ anything yet."

"He will." Kankuro growled.

"You don't know that."

"But he—"

"And if he does anything I dislike I'll allow you to attack him. Temari on the other hand might be inclined to disagree."

Shikamaru sighed. "I don't even know what you two are talking about." Shikamaru glanced at the couch. "Can I sit down? As entertaining as it's been holding this staring contest and all, I'd much rather sit down."

"Well aren't you an arrogant, cocky moron. I should teach—"

"KANKURO!" Temari yelled as she came down the stairs. "Why the hell are you threatening him? What have I told you about threatening people?"

"To always threaten people that are trouble." He murmured under his breath.

"You're not wearing your purple skirt." Gaara noted, having opened his eyes to watch the scene before him, hoping it would provide amusement.

"Cheh." Temari said haughtily, "This one's just as good."

Gaara smiled slowly. "Couldn't find it, huh?"

"Who cares about the damn skirt!" Kankuro exclaimed. "We need to kick this baka out of our house."

Shikamaru yawned. "I'm sitting down now. If you intend to kill me, I'll be on the couch."

"Kankuro," Temari said sweetly, a dangerous edge to her voice. "Go away! You keep making hysterical comments and I'm sure you've tried to hurt him. So, _go away_."

The puppeteer crossed his arms defiantly, "No."

Temari's lips pursed. She looked at her youngest brother, deciding to take a different course of action. "Gaara, take Kankuro out the house."

Gaara stood up slowly and looked at the shadow-nin on the couch. "Why? If I do that this won't be funny anymore."

"I'll buy you chocolate-covered pretzels and a large double-chocolate fudge bundt cake."

Gaara mulled over the proposal. "Throw in some homemade brownies and double-chocolate chip ice-cream and I'll do it."

"Minimum an hour." Temari clarified.

"Deal."

"_NO_ DEAL!" Kankuro belted. "I am not leaving—mrgph!" Kankuro was wrapped in a cocoon of floating sand. Gaara walked out of the house the floating sand-coated Kankuro bubble trailing after him. "DAMMIT, GAARA!" The bubble yelled.

The door closed behind the red-head and the sand bubble.

Temari cleared her throat nervously. She shifted her feet and eyed the spiky black hair poking out from behind the couch. She wondered if her brothers' behavior had scared him, pissed him off, or even maybe made him decide talking to her wasn't worth the trouble.

"Are you just going to stand there awkwardly all day, Temari?"

She blushed a bit. "You're not…I don't know…" She sighed. "Never mind."

Gingerly she took a seat next to him, making sure she wasn't touching him. Touching him might halt her brain's process and _that_ was a dangerous thing to do.

"They're a little strange, but really who isn't?" He said, his eyes closed, making him looking completely at ease, "Besides I came to talk to you. What they do or say doesn't matter."

He always said things that made her think he could read her mind. She crossed her legs. She felt immensely relieved her brothers' inane reactions hadn't really done anything to him. "Are you really so useless that they wouldn't even let you oversee the political conversation? Or did you decide to play the lazy idiot and ditch your duties?" She teased.

He opened his eyes and glanced at her. "Always with the accusing, woman. Just because _you_ are always kicked out political chats in your own village doesn't mean anything about everyone else."

"Ay," She grinned, "Bold of you to insult me in my own house, 'Kamaru."

A small smile played on his lips. "I would say it's _bold_ to insult you period. It's like poking a sleeping dragon."

She laughed. "You are such a dork."

He smiled. "They decided to take a day off." He said seriously. "Let the boiling water cool. You Suna people are very temperamental."

"Insinuating something?"

"Only stating the obvious."

Temari chuckled softly and resisted the urge to call him a dork again. Mainly because her eyes were drawn to the rubber band holding his hair up. She still strongly suspected the image of his hair falling loosely around his face would just make her giggle in mirth, but Temari was open to the possibility that she _could_ be wrong.

Temari loved to be right, but she couldn't very well say she was right if she hadn't tested her theory out.

Which led to her eyeing the rubber band very carefully.

Should she? Or shouldn't she?

"What," he said slowly, his eyes closing after a speculative glance in her direction "are you looking at the top of my head for?"

Temari smirked; well he _did_ ask for a reason, and the best answers were always an action.

She reached behind her quietly and quickly to the small stand beside the edge of the couch. Her fingers closed around a kunai.

There were always weapons lying around the house in all places. This was for two reasons. One, Gaara was lazy and messy and just dropped weapons wherever he pleased. And two, Kankuro had strongly 'petitioned' to place weapons in key areas of the house in case of an emergency. 'You can never be too careful.' He would say. She was glad for it now, as she quickly drew the blade up to his hair and cut the rubber band that tied his hair up.

Shikamaru's eyes opened alarmingly as his hair fell downward. His hand drew up to his head. "Dammit, woman." He murmured. "Why'd you do that for?"

Temari's fingers inched toward his head and she combed his hair with her fingers pulling it down so it lay smoothly albeit a bit messily over his face, past his shoulders.

Her heart tweaked unusually and she felt the oncoming of a blush. She then felt a giggle purse through her lips, the strange tightening and thumping still present.

Before she even realized he was planning something she felt a kunai blade pressed up against _her_ hair ties and the relaxing feeling of _her_ hair falling loose.

Her hand instinctively drew up to her head and she blushed. Temari patted her hair down and combed through it with her fingers to make it seem less messy. "What – _Why_ did you do that?!"

He smirked. "Mainly? For payback."

"Baka." She tried to calm her blush down.

"You look…gorgeous with your hair down."

Her blush grew. "Oh, quit saying stupid things."

"According to you that's all I say."

"Hmph!" She turned her head and self-consciously tried to flatten her hair. She could always go upstairs and re-fix her hair, but it felt silly to her.

She wasn't a vain person and she most certainly didn't care about her looks. Why she felt all self-conscious with her hair down around _him_ was just stupid. The cause of a stupid emotion.

She harrumphed lightly. That had to be it! All emotions related to Shikamaru were stupid and she should ignore them.

"You really are the most troublesome woman I've ever met."

"Then stop talking to me, dammit!" She snapped bitterly, refusing to look back up at him, afraid her heart would do the stupid thing.

It would flutter around and thump stupidly.

The heart was clearly a useless organ.

…Okay, not _entirely_ useless, but _still_.

"Did I ever say you bothered me?"

"That's what troublesome means!"

"You are annoying and hard to deal with but you _don't_ bother me."

"Oh!" You stupid idiot!" She glared at him. "Annoying and hard to deal with are the definition of bothersome! Just—"

He covered her mouth with his hand. "Do stop yelling."

She pushed his hand down irritably, blushing at the soft contact. "Don't ever do that again." She said in a very deadly tone.

"Then stop getting angry over nothing."

She fumed, "_Nothing_—?"

"_Yes_. Nothing." He said firmly.

She pulled her legs up to the couched and glared. "Get out of my—"

He kissed her lips softly.

Temari's eyes widened and she blushed. It was so strong a blush Temari wouldn't be surprised if she had turned purple.

It was a very chaste, short kiss, but a kiss nonetheless.

"I will not get out until I explain." He stated calmly.

Temari tried to string together a reply but found her vocal chords weren't functioning. Could his lips really destroy her voice _that_ easily?

"I didn't intend to do this now." He said clearly. "I had a plan, really. I could've endured and waited until the time when carrying out my plan would've worked perfectly, that is if it wasn't for you. You complicate things. I could deal with the insomnia, the seeing you in the clouds, the wanting to talk to you quite often, but you undid me." He blushed a bit. "With the underwear and all…"

Temari blushed furiously, "I…" She croaked.

"But really, it wasn't just that, it was everything. I'm usually patient, but you make it hard to wait.

"I really like you, Temari."

"Eh…I…W…" Temari struggled, her voice not willing to comply. Shikamaru waited what seemed as calmly, but she noticed his hands draw together in his 'thinking position'.

He was nervous.

"I know," he said softly, pulling his hands quickly out of the position, as if he didn't want to put them in the position. Almost as if he'd been caught cheating. "You think I'm impossibly lazy and don't go after anything, but when I want something, I'll get it. Even if it takes me forever.

"I'm not…the cocky kind. I usually leave that to you, but…I always get what I really want. I always win.

"…I want…you."

Temari's heart was beating a mile a minute and her skin felt all tingly. She almost felt on the verge of explosion. "I…" Her hands were anxious and jittery. "I…" Her fingers clenched. "Oh, fuck it all." She murmured and clenched the front of his shirt puling him toward her.

Their lips collided wildly, pleadingly, desperately. Temari's fingers dug into his shirt. Shikamaru's fingers entwined in her hair.

She pushed him away abruptly as a realization wormed into her mind. "Dammit." She muttered. "I forgot." The blonde scrambled up from the couch and over to the TV (which was situated in front of the couch.)

By the TV was the motionless Kuroari. Temari tinkered with the puppet for a bit then pulled out a small videocassette. "There." She muttered to herself. The blonde snapped the cassette in half and placed it on top of the TV.

"What are you doing?" Shikamaru asked, bewildered. His hands were back in the thinking position. Probably on impulse.

"Kankuro." She explained. "He has a video recorder in Kuroari. Left it on to 'check up' on me later. Don't want him pestering me about this later." She moved back to the couch and batted his hands out of their position. "I'm not done with you yet." A delicate smile played on her lips and she moved closer to him.

"Good." Shikamaru replied before Temari's lips contacted with the edge of his. This was unlike the previous kiss which had been thirsty and fervent. This was gentle, patient, soft. His hands were resting firmly on her waist, and hand softly rubbing the exposed skin above her skirt. Temari murmured pleasantly into his mouth and entangled her fingers into his dark hair.

His lips moved down tracing her neck with warm kisses. Temari shivered.

Oh, fuck.

And she had thought _this_ wasn't extraordinary?

* * *

**A/N:** I'm not so sure about the kissing scene. I always get…nervous in writing those, I'm never sure if I managed to pull them off as well, as I had hoped. What do you think? Review Pleaze 


	6. Bribery

**_So Extraordinary, It's Borderline Crazy_**

**Ch.6:** _Bribery_

* * *

"We should be _home_!" Kankuro ranted. "That boy needs to be killed or at the very _least_ tortured." He whined. "Don't you agree? Come on, just _a little_!" 

The puppeteer was no longer encased in a sand bubble, but at any sudden movement toward the house, sand would wrap around him preventing him from taking any further steps. Kankuro had already tried to escape many times and failed almost immediately every time, so instead he had decided to try and convince his little brother.

"No." Gaara said flatly.

Kankuro was lying on his back on the sand underneath the swing adjacent to the swing Gaara was seated on. Kankuro wasn't a big fan of swings. "Can't we _please_ go back and kill him?"

Gaara paused his swinging and looked at his brother. "You know, groveling doesn't suit you very well. The word 'please' in particular."

He sighed and irritably and sat up avoiding the swing hanging above him. "Nara could take advantage of our sister."

Gaara's fingers clenched and released almost immediately. "Temari'd beat him to a pulp before he even started if she had no intention of letting him take advantage."

"See, but she shouldn't be taken advantage of _period_. Whether she wants it or not."

Gaara was swinging slowly again. "Temari deserves to be happy."

"Come on! … Okay, how about this: we _let_ Temari be happy with Nara _after_ I cut off some limbs."

"No. No limb cutting." He said simply. After a pause he spoke again, "You're not very good at persuasion."

"I never had to be." The puppeteer grumbled. "Temari always handled that shit for me."

Gaara swung peacefully like a little child. "…You want help?"

Kankuro blinked. "What?"

"You could always bribe me into letting you interrupt Shikamaru and Temari…"

"Bribe you? With—"

"Like Temari bribed me to get you out of the house…"

"Oh!" He seemed to have trouble remembering what she'd bribed him with. "Uh…I – Oh, fuck it. Whatever Temari bribed you with, I'll double it."

"Triple." He demanded.

"That's extortion!"

He shrugged. "You say extortion like it's a bad thing. I say it's a crime not to use extortion when you can."

Kankuro gritted his teeth. "Fine, I'll triple it. But you can't stop me from killing Nara!"

Gaara mulled it over. "…Okay."

The minute those words slipped from Gaara's mouth Kankuro broke off running back home to kill Shikamaru.

Gaara slid off the swing. "Can't make any promises about Temari killing _you_ though." He said to the air. Gaara headed back home more quickly than he normally would have.

This of course, was only for two reasons: to see the entertaining scene Kankuro was sure to create and to make sure Temari understand he hadn't broken their deal.

He had after all waited an hour before giving Kankuro the idea to bribe him, and Temari had said to keep him away for a _minimum_ of an hour. He'd done that.

Gaara smiled.

Now Temari and Kankuro owed him chocolatey goodness.

Manipulation and extortion were the funnest things he'd ever done.

**

* * *

A/N:** Yay! I updated early. Well, really I only updated early because I figured it would be unfair to update late. I won't really be home on Friday and Saturday (I have a speech & poetry competition. Wish me luck!! ) and I thought it would mean to make you wait till Sunday to wait for this next short chapter. Really short chapter, I know. The story is coming to a close though, one more chapter and it's all over. --sniffle-- If I'm in a good mood I'll update it earlier than usual. 

PS. Reviews get me in a VERY good mood…


	7. Worth It

**_So Extraordinary, It's Borderline Crazy_**

**Ch.7:** _Worth It_

* * *

Somehow they'd ended up on the floor. 

Temari's lips were hungrily attacking every bit of bare skin of his neck and her hands were roaming up his bare chest.

His hands skimmed up her bare waist, gently and hungrily to the soft sensitive skin right underneath her bra.

Her nails raked his chest gently.

Shikamaru inclined his head toward her lips and kissed her very gently, posing sharp contrast to her hungry fervent kisses.

His touch was so soft and patient and not the least bit lazy. It was hot, and insane, and oh-so-fucking-extraordinary.

"Temari." He murmured softly into her mouth. She shivered and blushed, his voice driving her up the wall again.

She leaned forward, but then stiffened abruptly.

"What is it?" He asked breathlessly.

"Get off of me." She said hurriedly.

"_What_?" He asked incredulous.

"Get _off_ of me!"

"You're on top of _me_, woman!"

Temari blinked and scrambled up. "Right…Right." The blonde scrambled about the room. "_Dammit_! Where's my shirt!? Where's my—"

"Temari," Shikamaru interrupted, "What—"

"Ah!" She exclaimed triumphantly as she pulled her shirt off from the top of the TV. She pulled it one quickly. Once on, she looked at Shikamaru in confusion and bewilderment. "What are you doing?" She accused hysterically. "What are you _doing_?"

She pulled him up off the floor. "Get dressed, baka. Put on your damned shirt. Kankuro is coming back and I don't want to deal with his irrationality. I can feel him. He'll go off the handle if he finds me and you half naked."

"Half—"

"Aren't you listening?!" The blonde searched around the room and pulled his shirt and Chuunin jacket out from under the couch. "Get dressed, dammit!"

He pulled the shirt and jacket on lazily. "Woman, if your problem is Kankuro going crazy over us doing things then you should fix your hair."

She blinked. "What?"

"I don't think he'll find it a coincidence and be all understanding if we both somehow have our hair down."

He hand snapped to her head. "Oh, dammit!" She'd only taken one step toward the bathroom when the door slammed open and Kankuro ran into the room.

"_Aha_!" He exclaimed and the doubled over, breathing heavily. "I…caught…you…"

Temari's face twisted into an innocent and irritated one. "Caught me doing what exactly?"

Kankuro straightened. Temari and Nara were on opposites sides of the room. "Fuck…I…WAIT! WHY THE HELL DO YOU TWO HAVE YOUR HAIR DOWN ALL MESSY LIKE!"

She rolled her eyes. "It's hair. Hair falls down messy-like. That what it does."

"But-But—"

"Did I miss the funny bit?" Gaara asked quietly walking into the room.

"The _funny_ bit?" Temari asked incredulous.

"Damn." Gaara muttered. "I _did_ miss the funny bit."

Temari rolled her eyes. "Now if you two idiots will excuse me, I'm walking Shikamaru to the door."

She was greeted with three choruses of "You are?"

"I still need to dismember him!" Kankuro called as Temari dragged Shikamaru to the door.

"The only one getting dismembered here is you, Kankuro."

"That's not fair!" He whined. "How come I get dismembered for caring for my sister?"

"Because." She dragged Shikamaru out of the room. Temari paused before the door. She cleared her throat. "Well…Um…"

"Do you really want me to leave that badly?"

"No, it's just…" She sighed. "They're my brothers. And-and Kankuro is—" She fidgeted. "I need to whack some sense into him and you here it's troublesome and—" She glared as his lips curved up into a smile.

"_Troublesome_, Temari?"

"Oh, shut up. You are so tr—" She pointed at him as the smile on his face grew wider. "Don't say it."

"You mean say—"

"I mean it!" She threatened.

"You are—"

"Don't you dare!"

He teased. "You are turning into a—"

Temari covered her ears and ranted childishly. "LALALALALALALALALA! CAN'T HEAR YOU!"

He pushed her hands down, a wide grin on his face. "Really, Temari, that is the lamest response you could give."

She pouted. "My brain's not working on me right now. It think it's broken. I need a new one."

"So, are you saying that for the first time you're letting me win?"

She moped. "But I NEVER lose, dammit."

He leaned closer. "So it seems all I have to do to win is do this." He kissed her temple. "And this." This time he kissed her lips, his hand snaked around her waist. "To make you lose?

"Dammit, Shikamaru." She mumbled. "I'm supposed to win…"

"DAMMIT, NARA!! DON'T TOUCH MY SISTER!"

Shikamaru ducked as a kunai knife was thrown at his head. It was imbedded precariously in the wall. "You keep threatening and attacking me," Shikamaru said lazily. "I'm gonna start to think you actually want to kill me."

"I DO WANT TO KILL YOU, DAMMIT!"

"KANKURO, GO WAIT IN THE FUCKING LIVING ROOM!" Temari screamed

"SO YOU TWO CAN DO-DO—_THINGS_ IN HERE?! NO FUCKING WAY!"

"Kan—"

"I'm not leaving until he's out of _my_ house!!"

Temari pushed Shikamaru outside the doorway so he stood an inch from the entrance. "He's outside the house now, happy!"

"NO!"

"You stupid—I'M GOING TO KILL YOU TWO!!"

"I didn't do anything." Gaara called from inside the living room. "I kept him away for an hour just like you said." He walked in slowly stopping beside Kankuro. "Which means you owe me my chocolate stuffs. Kankuro owes me chocolate stuffs too."

"HEY WAIT!!" Kankuro yelled, "That means you bamboozled me!"

"Like I said, it's a crime not to use manipulation and extortion when you can."

Shikamaru shoved his hands in his pockets. "I should go…"

Gaara had been counting the chocolate stuff he'd be getting with his fingers, but looked up at Sihkamaru's words. "You can stay. We're having chocolate stuffs for dinner."

"WHAT THE HELL, YOU TRAITOR!" Kankuro belted. "HE'S THE ENEMY! YOU DON'T INVITE THE ENEMY THAT'S PLANNING TO RAVAGE OUR SISTER FOR DINNER!!"

Gaara continued ignoring his brother. "I mean so long as you can, you know, block Kankuro's attempts to kill you and all. Or maybe you should take Temari out to dinner, that sounds safer." He shrugged. "I don't care. I just want my chocolate stuffs dinner."

Kankuro gawked at Gaara. "You little traitor."

Gaara walked out of the house dragging Kankuro behind him. "Come buy me my chocolate stuffs."

"I'm NOT – Temari – Dammit, Gaara! Tell your sand to let go of me!"

Shikamaru stood still in shock. "Your brothers are kind of nuts."

"I know." She chuckled, "It's entertaining don't you think?"

He laughed, "Entertaining, it is."

"You're not very normal yourself either you know." She said seriously.

"And you're pretty crazy too, Temari."

She inclined her head. "Yeah," then she smiled, "this is gonna be one funny relationship." And an extraordinary, non-normal one at that.

"Any un-normal relationship would have to be."

"Not too much trouble?" She teased.

"Eh, some trouble is worth it."

**

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A/N:** Hehehe. Early updations! Huzzah! On the down side, this story seems to be over. Darn. I liked it. But if it's any more of a mood pleaser I'm currently working on another longish ShikaTema story. Rather…strange and different if I really think about it. Or at least it's not like anything I've read before. When this story will be updated is a very big question though. Knowing me, it'll take forever for me to get around to typing it….So, yeah… Well, tell me what you think, I lub your all reviews, you guys are the greatest readers. Muffins for everyone!! (I really love muffins…) 


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